31/07/2014 Asia Business Report

hopes the structure can be repaired. Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore. John Kerry leads the first

delegation to India since the elections in May. Striking a chord

in Asia. How the parents of children like this young boy are driving

growth for piano makers. Thank you for joining us for this

edition of Asia Business Report. The American online retail giant Amazon

is boosting its business in India with a $2 billion investment. John

Kerry led a delegation to India for the first time since Narendra Modi

won a landslide victory. Now we go to our correspondent.

Even before he arrived, John Kerry was talking about the relations

between the US and India with a promise to increase trade and

investment. Now is the time to renew that dialogue with the new

government and a new set of opportunities. New possibilities.

This is a potentially transformative moment in our partnership. Despite

the upbeat political rhetoric, relationships between the

democracies are not at their best. A bitter fight over the arrest of an

Indian official last year and disputes over trade and intellectual

property have dominated ties. There are plenty of hurdles to clear.

India is desperate for more energy. And it has its eye on cheap Shell

gas imports from the US. At the moment it only sells gas to

countries it has a free trade agreement with. India has no such

deal but wants the US to open up the market. The US, on the other hand,

is worried about protection of intellectual property, especially

pharmaceuticals. India is clearly ambitious economically. India needs

to be reaching out to all partners. We are pleased that the US is

India's second largest trading partner. There was an enormous

possibility for growth. Trade in goods and services between the US

and India totalled almost $100 billion last year. A fivefold

increase since 2000. Narendra Modi will visit the US later this year to

meet President Obama. It could be a significant step to repairing the

relationship between the countries. But some important ground work is

likely to be done here in the next few days.

The world's biggest economy has indeed bounced back. US economic

output is expanding by 4%. That reverses a sharp 2.9% annual fall in

the start of the year. The Federal Reserve said it would ease back on

its stimulus efforts. US equities overnight perked up. The Central

Bank reaffirmed that it is in no hurry to raise the cost of

borrowing. As for Asian stocks, also in positive territory. We're seeing

the Nikkei and Australia in the plus column. The US dollar has

disappointed investors on its bias on monetary policy. Moving the

technology. Samsung's second`quarter profits plunging nearly 20% from a

year ago. That is over $6 billion. It is because of a slowdown in its

smartphone business. The disappointing numbers are largely in

line with the previous quarter. Nintendo shares are tumbling after

bigger than expected first`quarter losses. It has posted a $97 million

deficit in the three months to June compared and $84 million profit for

the same period a year ago. Sales are down despite the release of

Mario Kart in May. Microsoft's Xbox one is being launched in China in

late September. The first main foreign games console to go on sale

there in fourteen years. It comes in spite of an antimonopoly

investigation into the US company by mainland authorities. In Hong Kong,

the international conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest family

will unveil its half`year results. It is not expected to deliver much

in terms of profit growth. In part due to a slow of recent asset

sales. Now we go to our correspondent.

The telecoms conglomerate has had a busy year so far. In March, the

billionaire behind the group sold the bulk of his stake in a container

terminal. The deal raised questions about his continuing commitment to

Hong Kong, a business focused city. Here, investors often look to him

for guidance. Later in the same month, Hutchinson announced it would

sell a quarter of its stake in the health and beauty chain Watsons for

nearly $6 billion. He also decided to list his power assets on the Hong

Kong stock exchange. It was not as successful as expected. Some

investors said they were jittery. He did it in a three`month period by

selling three major assets of his companies. That makes people think

it might not be a very good value. It creates doubt for my clients.

With so many high profile divestments this year, savvy

investors are wondering if Hong Kong is no longer a great place to put

one's money. TRANSLATION: That is why he decided to sell off the

assets. I guess he thought the stock market was going to tank. He makes

the product from Hong Kong. I think he will still stay in Hong Kong. He

said he is not abandoning Hong Kong for greener pastures, saying the

asset sales are a normal part of the business cycle. But he has admitted

to losing sleep over the city's future. One major worry is a planned

civil disobedience movements organised by pro`democracy activists

who want genuine democratic reforms. It will be called Occupy Central. He

believes the sit in will hurt Hong Kong. So far, stock`market investors

have shown little concern over Occupy Central. But they will be

closely watching the results briefing for any clues into how the

company plans to spend the money raised from the asset sales.

One of the world's best`known piano makers has made huge inroads into

China over the past decade. Now we go to our correspondent.

#Moonlight Sonata. Like many parents in Asia, mine pushed me to play the

piano. But unlike many parents now, mine could not afford to get me one

of these. One of these can set you back about $250,000. Asia makes up

nearly half the global sales, and growth is expected at 20% this year

alone. Driven by China. With me now is the president of Steinway

Asia`Pacific. What is behind this growth? Is it down to the pushy

parents? I would not say pushy parents, but parents who take care

of the education of their children when it comes to piano playing. It

is that approach to learning that saw this young man's parents get him

a Steinway earlier this year. He is just 11 years old. He has been

playing for four years. In a trend, unique to this region, nearly half

of the sales in many Asian countries are down to parents buying them for

their young children. Ten years ago, Steinway hardly sold any pianos in

China. Now it has become popular to play piano. You have been credited

with turning around the fortunes of Steinway. How did you manage to do

that? When I came to China, it did not look so inviting for a product

like ours. You could easily buy ten houses for the price of a Steinway.

Within the past ten years, we have built our base in Shanghai. We also

develop the market by talking very closely to the education people, the

institutions. The conservators. How do you build a business model around

a product that does not need replacing? We mostly have one time

buyers. You cannot keep telling them that you need a new one. It is just

developing. It is growing with the player. People talk about it. They

are telling their friends. This is one part of the success. The second

part is we are a global company. There are always markets we can

develop. Great talent. A star in the making. Thank you for investing your

time with us. Goodbye for now. You are watching BBC News. The top

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